


The Big Bad Phone Number

by katie618318



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-29 02:29:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30149379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katie618318/pseuds/katie618318
Summary: Annie wants to protect her sister, to do this she has to get her hands on the gun that was used to kill Lucy which is covered in Beth’s finger prints. This is where Mick, one of the gang members who got them there in the first place, comes in. Annie meets up with him to convince him to get her sister's prints off the gun and hers on it instead. After this they just keep meeting up with each other no matter how much Mick wishes they wouldn’t.
Relationships: Annie Marks/Mick (Good Girls)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. Those Ten Magic Numbers

**Author's Note:**

> There is not nearly enough Annie/Mick media out there so purely for myself I made some and decided to share it. This is the first fanfiction I've written in a long time so be gentle with me. Also if your interested I post about Good Girls on my tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/blog/katie618318

“What could you possibly need his number for!” Beth exclaimed at Annie who was sitting across the island counter from her.

Annie showed up at Beth’s house that afternoon with the intention of getting Mick’s phone number, which from the reaction that her sister had just given her seemed like it would be harder than she had originally thought.

“I just need a teeny favour from him, it’s nothing to get all worked up over Beth.” She could understand why her sister was upset over the idea of her talking to a dangerous gang member, truthfully she has the same reaction anytime Beth talks about Rio. She was just hoping her sister would give her the benefit of the doubt that she gives Beth anytime she mentions her ‘gang friend’.

“What’s the ‘teeny favour?’ You’re not going to have him murder anyone are you! I know you’ve had a rough time with Gregg and your therapist lately but I’m sure there’s a peaceful way for you to figure it all out,” Beth’s wild imagination made Annie huff in amusement, Beth would never get rid of her protective older sister instinct and it was arguably worse now that she’s had four kids. This was exactly why Annie had to have a conversation with Mick about that gun.

“I’m not going to get him to murder anyone do you know how expensive that would be,” it was a joke but the glare that Beth gave her showed her that she did not find it amusing even in the slightest, “Beth I would never have him murder anyone! However much I hate those guys right now I still care about them enough to not have them brutally murdered by a gang member.”

“Who said anything about brutally!” Annie gave her sister an unamused look which convinced Beth to change her line of questioning, “you’re not going to sleep with him are you?” 

The question made Annie’s jaw drop in shock “Oh my god! I can not believe you just asked me that!”

“I'm sorry it's just sometimes when you're feeling low you’ll-”

At this Annie snapped, “I’m not going to have sex with a dangerous gang member! No matter how ‘low’ I’m feeling!”

“I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry, it's just that you aren’t telling me what you’re trying to get out of him and it’s worrying me. Please just give me a little peace of mind.” Now Annie felt bad for snapping at Beth. She understood that she didn’t mean any offence, she was just worried and wanted to make sure she wasn’t doing anything stupid or reckless. Which is exactly why she couldn’t tell her that she was doing something stupid and reckless.

Annie let out a slow sigh, she desperately wanted to tell her sister what she was doing trying to get into contact with Mick, she didn’t want to hide anything from her but she had to, to protect Beth and her children, they wouldn’t make it with just Dean. “I told you I just need a favour from him.”

“Well you not telling me what the favour is, is freaking me out. You’re my sister I need to make sure you’ll be okay” Beth had a concerned look on her face and her eyes felt like they were piercing through her soul.

“I’ll be perfectly safe I promise. I’ll have 9-1-1 on speed dial if anything goes wrong and I’ll call you as soon as I'm done talking to him. I can handle myself Beth, I’m not as incompetent as you think I am”

“I don’t think you’re incompetent and you know that. It’s just that we’ve been close to these guys. They have murdered a woman in front of our eyes; they're incredibly dangerous. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you because I let it.” 

“Nothing bad is going to happen to me, they need you and know that if anything happened to me you would be useless to them. You would just be crying all the time.” Beth was amused by this and seemed to not be as worried as before because what Annie was saying was entirely true. As much as she said she needed Lucy before her untimely passing it wasn’t true which is probably why she wasn’t around anymore, but she needed Annie. They’ve been together since the beginning and if anything were to happen to her she would be destroyed and completely, utterly useless. She wasn’t going to let Annie know this though.

“Don’t fuel your ego too much,” Beth chuckled at her own joke and Annie knew it was her way of saying she was right.

“Now can you just give me the phone number already? If you get any mushier with me you’re going to make me cry before my big date with the homicidal gang member.” Beth let out a chuckle as she reached for her pocket to grab her phone.

As Beth was pulling her phone out of her pocket she let out small puffs of laughter as she said to Annie, “It wouldn’t be the worst guy you’ve ever dated.” 

“Haha.” Annie said sarcastically as she felt her phone vibrate telling her that Beth had just sent her the phone number.

She looked down at the phone and saved the number under the name Mick, “Thank you, I’ll talk to you later” Annie said as sincerely as she could to another person.

“You better or I'll have to get the hitman to do another job and we both know how that will go.” Annie laughed at this and stared at her sister for a while afterwards as she thought about what she was about to do.

“I love you, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Annie said with all the love she had for her sister. Hoping this wouldn’t be the last time she saw her.

“I love you too, be careful.” Beth looked worried but she wasn’t going to try to talk Annie out of it anymore. She knew how stubborn her sister was after all and talking would only delay the inevitable.

Annie walked towards the door ready to leave but before leaving through the front door she waved goodbye to her sister. Her sister distractedly waved back, she was probably still stressing out about whatever it was that Annie was trying to get from Mick.

Once Annie was finally out of the house she breathed a sigh of relief as she walked towards her car. She was expecting her sister to be so much worse than she was. Beth must have known from the beginning that she was fighting a losing battle. After all, Annie had already come up with a back up plan to find Mick’s phone number in the paperwork he filled out to originally get the hot tub from her sister. She’s glad she didn't have to resort to that because it was a terrible plan that she wasn’t sure would have even worked.

Once she made it to her car she got inside and started dialing the number that her sister gave to her, it rang once before a gruff voice said into the phone, “Hello”

Annie couldn’t think of what to say; she didn’t think he would answer that quickly. Suddenly overcome with anxiety everything she thought of saying seemed stupid. She couldn't possibly just come out and ask Mick for what she wanted. It seemed rude and she was raised at least somewhat better than that. So not knowing what to say she just responded with a small, “hello” back to the man.

Annie could picture his confused expression that was most likely followed by an annoyed stare at the phone when he asked her, “who’s this?”

Afraid that Mick was going to hang up on her if she didn’t say anything quick enough Annie rapidly and quite awkwardly responded, “This is Beth’s sister, Annie. I’m the one with the short brown hair. We met that one time at the paper store, well I guess we didn’t meet, meet but we were both there on the same business well I guess not the sa-”

“What do you want?” It seemed that Annie’s long winded explanation had annoyed Mick. Making him seem more annoyed than before which did not bode well for Annie’s plan.

“I was wondering... if we could talk... about our… shared business,” Annie whispered at the end of her sentence as if someone was listening in on her phone call.

She heard a deep annoyed sigh on the other end of the phone then an irritated voice said, “I’ll pick you up tonight.”

“Oh! Okay I live at-” As Annie was saying it she was realizing that it was a horrible idea to tell a dangerous gang member where she lived.

“I already know where you live.” He cut her off quickly then immediately hung up on her leaving her shocked. 

Annie sat there frozen feeling more than a little terrified. She finally moved once she heard her phone go off, it was a message from Mick that only contained a time for later that night. She assumed the time was when he was going to come to her apartment, the apartment that he somehow knew she lived in. It didn’t seem the night would bode well for Annie.


	2. A Late Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie waits for Mick to show up so they can talk about their ‘shared business.' When Mick arrives the night takes a turn that Annie wasn't expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the bookmarks, kudos and hits on my last chapter! It really made my day, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Annie paced around daydreaming in her apartment for the remainder of the day waiting for Mick to show up. She was reminding herself of her sister earlier that day lost in her head all afternoon in a field of scenarios all of which ending in her inevitable death, grave injury or, in the more graphic images, both. She was terrified, after each of her daydreams she tried to convince herself that reality could not possibly end in such a way after all the gang needed her didn’t they but then again she thought there were a lot of other people they needed that ended up dead.

Pacing around her apartment consumed by her thoughts she was finally snapped out of them by a harsh knock at the door. Hearing it she immediately knew who it was and all the nerves she was already feeling doubled as she walked towards her door, she took a deep breath and pulled it open to reveal the man she’d known it to be and who she had been waiting for all night. She couldn’t help but feel a bit angry looking at him, this whole night she had been consumed by anxiety and here he was with a bored expression on his face.

Without missing a beat he asked her, “Are you ready to go?”

The statement confused Annie. She thought they would be staying at her apartment for this interaction somewhere she felt partially safe being around a gang member, “Where are we going? I thought we would just talk here?”

“No, Why is your kid here or something?” Mick asked in a gruff voice, the contents of his sentence shocking Annie. How much stuff did the gang really know about all of them, and more alarmingly why did they feel the need to know it. Annie tried to calm herself down, convincing herself that they discovered all of this information while trying to decipher if she was actually an undercover cop or something else that could cause an equal amount of damage to the gang. She didn’t think she fell under either category, so she figured her family would be safe.

“He isn’t here. Where did you want to go?” Annie asked. She was happy that she got Ben to his father’s tonight. Earlier in the day she lied to him about a flu that she was coming down with saying that she didn’t want to give it to Ben and make him miss out on his education. Hopefully when Ben got back home to the apartment he wouldn’t be hearing news about her death in some dark alley that Mick had taken her too. The course of the conversation she was currently having with Mick convinced Annie that she wouldn’t be seeing her family ever again because Mick was going to take her somewhere and kill her just for wasting his time with a short phone call.

“I haven’t eaten yet. I’m going to get something to eat,” confused Annie just stared at him for a second, Mick looked back at her unimpressed, “You can talk all you want after you buy me dinner.”

So Mick was annoyed that she was taking up his time and now she had to literally pay for it. If that was the extent of his fury she could and hopefully would live with that, “Alright. I’ll go get my wallet, come in,” The second those last two words came out of her mouth she regretted them, her brain was working on autopilot and seemingly also against her in this stressful situation.

Annie watched Mick as he almost hesitantly took a step into her living room, seemingly confused why she would invite him into her apartment. “Nice place,” he said, looking around.

“Thanks, it really makes all the crime worth it,” Annie responded sarcastically which got a huff of what may have been amusement from Mick. She didn’t know why she said that, most likely because in situations like this she defaulted to sarcasm. This was not the time for it; for all she knew he would have been offended and chastised her. Thank god he has a sense of humour about the whole affair. 

Annie walked quickly, anxious that she had a gang member in her living room, towards her bedroom where she kept her wallet in her purse. She rummaged quickly through the bag, grabbed what she had been after and walked back out to Mick who was staring at her couch clearly out of things to feign interest in. 

“I got it!” Annie mocked excitement as she came face to face with the gang member. Mick looked up uninterested and pointed towards the door with his thumb. From there he led her out of her apartment building and towards an expensive looking sleek black car that didn’t fit in with any of the other vehicles that were currently sitting in the apartment’s parking lot.

She waited until she heard the beep of the car before she tried to get in, she felt as if she had to do everything perfectly or else something horrible might happen to her, “So where are we going to eat chief?” She cringed at herself as the nickname left her lips.

Mick gave her an unreadable expression, if Annie had to guess Mick was experiencing second hand embarrassment by every word that was currently coming out of her mouth, “Chinese place in the strip mall.” he said after schooling his expression and turning towards the front windshield of the car.

That confused Annie because she thought that anything that wasn’t fast food would be closed at this hour of the night but this wasn’t something that she was about to interrogate him over. If she could help it she would stay perfectly still the entire night and try not to say anything else that might embarrass herself, “Alrighty.”

They sat in an awkward silence for the remainder of the car ride until Mick pulled up towards a strip mall that appeared to be closed. The dark parking lot made Annie breathe in a harsh, anxious breath, “wow it’s uh really dark, is it closed?” Annie asked in a quivering voice.

Mick pulled his keys from out of the ignition and turned towards her, “Yeah, but I know the guy who owns it.” Then he got out of the car, closed the door and walked towards the building, not even looking back to make sure Annie was coming with him.

Annie quickly got out of the car and caught up with Mick. As they got closer to the building Annie felt her legs beginning to shake, and her whole body started to sweat, she felt like she was going to have a panic attack. When they finally reached the building Annie felt like she wouldn’t be able to stand up for much longer. Mick held the door handle and turned to look at Annie for the first time since he came to her apartment and gave her a puzzled look.

Annie tried to get the anxious look off her face and her legs to stop shaking so when she gave a tight smile to Mick’s confused expression it might convince him that she was completely fine and nothing was wrong with her.

Mick stared at her poorly concealed frightened expression with heightened eyebrows then after looking at her for what seemed like hours just rolled his eyes and opened the door for her. Annie felt relieved that he wasn’t going to question her on her current state because if he had it was very possible that she would have started crying and begging for her life.

Annie walked in and immediately heard a bell ring above her head. Which made her slightly jump due to the nerves that she hadn’t yet overcome. When she calmed herself after her display she looked around to see a colourful seemingly normal restaurant that was concealed in the dark of the night. She could smell food being cooked and hear pots and utensils being moved around and then placed down by someone that must have been alerted to their presence in the building by the loud chime of the door. Suddenly a man donned in chef garb walked out from the kitchen then around the front counter to greet them.

“Mick! I’m so excited that you’re here, we’re making up you’re usual. With what you said about coming in from a different part of town tonight I thought you would have taken longer!” The man speaking to them seemed too excited for the clientele that he was currently taking in at the dead of the night. Annie wondered if it was fake cheerfulness. She thought there was no one that is this excited to have a dangerous criminal in their place of business this late at night. Annie wondered if Mick had gone into the bathroom for just a second if the man would have turned to her and begged for his life or asked for his past mistakes to be forgiven.

As Annie turned to look at Mick expecting to see the constant annoyed expression that he always wore, she was not ready to see that his eyes had lit up and he had a small smile on his face. Mick then walked around Annie and gave a hug to the man.

“So who’s this? I didn’t know that you had a new lady in your life? Does she want anything?” The man asked quickly and excitedly, the more he talked the more Annie was convinced this man was actually interested in Mick’s life and happy learning about it. Which shocked her, she always assumed that the gang member sat around until he needed to terrorize her and the girls.

Mick turned towards Annie once the man was done asking his question. It took her a while to remember what the man had originally asked. She was so flustered by everything that was currently going on around her, “I don’t want anything, thanks.”

At this the man seemed almost disappointed that he wouldn’t be learning anything about Mick’s ‘new lady,’ “Alright well let me go finish your meal so you two can be on your way!”

“Sounds good, how much will it cost?,” Annie asked as she pulled out her wallet and the man walked back towards the kitchen with a big smile on his face.

He had reached the counter before he abruptly turned around at her words and said, “for Mick everything is on the house.” 

Annie was happy to end the discussion there with a smile on her face. She started to put her wallet away imagining ways to waste the cash she just saved, at the moment she was thinking loads of alcohol, until Mick said from beside her, “Nah man, we gotta pay you. Hospitality and all that,” 

Annie couldn’t help herself; she immediately glared at Mick just to see him smirking right back at her as if expecting that reaction from her. The chef brightened even more if that was possible and spilled thanks to Mick as Annie walked up to the counter to pay the man, leaving Mick in the doorway.

The chef quickly told Annie how much the food would cost. Then as Annie was pulling her wallet back out of her pocket the man took this brief moment where they were out of Mick’s earshot as an opportunity to get all the information he could about the two of them, “So how did you two meet?”

Annie quickly looked up, shocked by the question she directed it back to him equally as curious, “If anyone should be asking that question it should be me,” she chuckled as she grabbed cash out of her wallet and handed it to the man.

He looked back at Mick with a big smile on his face before replying, “My business used to not be doing so well. There was a big fire and I couldn’t afford to replace everything, then Mick came in one day and saw we were in a state of disrepair. He offered to cover the cost of everything because ‘we’re his favourite place to eat.’ I owe that man everything that I have in my life right now, if not for him I would probably be on the streets.”

Annie raised her brows and looked back at Mick. It seemed like a very personal story to share with someone you met only a minute ago but if anyone were to do it, it would be this guy. The heartfelt story made everything feel very awkward all of a sudden for Annie as the man just happily looked down at the counter lost in his memories. Annie faked a cough to grab his attention and awkwardly said, “ugh well me and him just met at work, yeah.” she paused before adding, “Super cool guy.”

The man gave her a tight small put off by Annie then handed her back her bills while Mick was distracted on his phone, “keep it, I could never ask him or his friends to pay.”

Annie returned the man’s smile. As he walked back into the kitchen she put the bills back into her wallet, turned around towards Mick and leaned on the counter as she waited for the food to be finished cooking. Mick looked up and seeing that she was done talking with the man walked over to her, “So what did he want to know?” Mick asked and let out a huff of amusement thinking about all the things the man might have possibly asked Annie about.

“He wanted to know how we met each other,” Annie responded as she took in a deep breath the nerves she had felt before when talking to Mick coming back to the surface now that the gleeful cook was gone.

“Seemed like you guys were talking about a lot more than that,” Mick said as he stared at her. His stare much like her sisters felt like it was piercing into her soul but not in a way that made her want to share her deepest secrets. No when he gave her that look she wanted to curl up into a ball.

“We were talking about how you guys met,” Annie said hoping it would appease him. She didn’t know what information he wanted out of her, she didn’t have anything important to share with him. Unless he counted the information of hiring a hitman to kill his boss.

“I come in here to eat most weeks, not much more to it, what else did you talk about?” Mick said giving her that soul piercing stare again. She was starting to fear for her life again. If she didn’t give him the magic answer he would get rid of her. It was like when Ben was younger and always asked questions except now if she gave the wrong answer there was threat of death instead.

“We were talking about how you saved his business, he said that’s how you met. Or that’s at least when he started to notice you. Now that you got all of the details of your first meet cute right go on, propose to him already.” Annie under all of her fear had grown increasingly annoyed with all the questions and let out a sarcastic remark at him. Which, seeing the look that was currently plastered on Mick's face she was regretting.

Mick stared at her for a little longer before an amused look grew on his face and he said, “There she is.”

Annie stopped and stared at him for a second. She was about to ask him what that meant feeling confident that he was amused rather than upset at her before she felt something thump onto the counter that she was still leaning on. She looked behind her and saw that Mick’s food was finally done. She could finally get out of this place and go home, then she remembered why she was here. She had a gun to get to, to save her sister. After being thrown off for the entire night with Chinese food, and too happy culinary employees she forgot what she was even doing with Mick in the first place.

Mick was saying his goodbyes as he grabbed his food and began to leave the building. On his way out he held the door open again for Annie which is when she was able to catch up to him.

“So about that thing I wanted to talk to you about,” Annie started.

As soon as Annie started she also finished, Mick cut her off asking, “can this wait until we’re in the car.”

Annie nodded at him as they both made their way back to the vehicle. Once they both got in Mick immediately got into his food tossing a fork covered in plastic into his glove box and opening the wrapper that was covering his chopsticks. Once he got all his barriers out of the way he took a big bite of what appeared to be noodles that were covered in a sauce of some sort.

Annie, unsure of how to start this conversation with him, decided to go with sarcasm because if earlier was anything to go by he seemed like he may have enjoyed it, ‘You sure you don’t want a fork?” 

Mick without looking up at her continued eating his food and replied, “mm-mm,” 

Annie continued, “Just thought it might be a little more” Annie took a big breath, confidence waning as Mick started to raise his head from his food, “efficient for your, uh, situation.” she said raising a hand to her face circling around the beard area.

Mick finally looked up, shaking his head at what she was saying, she once again was creating an awkward conversation between the two of them due to her anxieties. In an attempt to stop her he turned towards her and asked, “What do you want?”

Annie took a deep breath to calm her nerves and turned to face Mick and asked him, “Do you got kids.” 

Mick chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth, all while nodding his head. He then responded, “Got a little girl in Cincinnati.”

Annie nodded back at him, “You get to see her at all?”

Mick shook his head a little, “I try to get there for her birthdays.”

“That sucks,” Annie whispered in response to him.

Without taking a pause to collect his thoughts Mick blurted out, “She's got a good mom. It’s better this way.”

There was a pause in conversation as Annie nodded at the information that Mick had just given her. She looked down at his body, brought down by the present conversation and unable to make eye contact. After a few seconds she finally said what she had been waiting to say all night, “I need a favour.”

Mick scoffed before saying, “you sound like your sister,” he then rubbed his beard, getting the food out of it. If they weren’t having such a serious conversation she might have called him out on it.

“She’s a really good mom too,” Annie said. despite the humour in what he had just done she felt her eyes watering, thinking about everything that could happen to her sister if she didn’t do this.

“So?” he said back at her, maybe it was the tears in her eyes that made Mick’s voice suddenly sound so soft.

Annie took a pause trying to get herself to stop tearing up, “so it really shouldn't be her prints on that gun,” Annie replied, her voice quiet and breaking slightly on every word.

Mick and Annie stared at each other for a few long seconds. The moment was broken when Mick suddenly turned his head and rubbed his beard once again. It might have been that Mick found Annie crying something that he couldn’t handle or that he found the moment entirely awkward, something else he had a hard time dealing with. Whatever it was Mick suddenly held his food out towards her and asked, “dumpling?”

Annie took the dumpling with a small smile on her face, somewhat comforted by the small interaction. She turned towards the front windshield again thinking about her sister.

Annie was brought out of her trance by a quiet voice saying, “Your prints shouldn’t be on it either.”

“What?” Annie asked.

“It sucks only being there for the birthdays,” Mick said, turning his head and making eye contact with her again. This time however it didn’t feel like his eyes were piercing her soul.

“Yeah but my sister,” Annie started but was quickly cut off.

“Always finds a way out of these things,” Mick deadpanned, staring right at her; she knew he was probably right. She just wanted to help her sister out of a sticky situation and make sure she was okay instead of it always being Beth who saved her. She wasn’t going to tell a gang member this no matter how much it seemed like he was trying to comfort her with his words.

“I think this is the most I've ever heard you talk.” Annie laughed to herself feeling lighter since she had her talk with Mick but also changing the subject, feeling uncomfortable sharing any other personal details with him.

Mick chuckled to himself then quietly responded, “I couldn’t let you make that mistake. Your kid needs you.”

Annie smiled at the words, “thank you,” Annie responded quietly to him, stunned that the man she thought would have been cruel towards her was treating her with goodwill.

Mick stared at her before asking, “that all you wanted?”

Annie stared back, “Yeah.”

Mick suddenly turned towards the windshield and quietly said, “Let’s get you home.” 

The ride back to her apartment was pleasantly quiet. After a long day of feeling anxious it was exactly what she needed. She couldn’t wait to get into bed and just pass out. When they finally got to her place they exchanged good byes, Annie opting to say it and Mick to throw up his hand in what could be construed as a wave. When she got out of the car Mick didn’t immediately leave he only started to depart once she finally got into the apartment building, at this she smiled and walked up to her apartment.; On the way up the steps she called her sister.

“I lived!,” Annie exclaimed into the phone surprised that her sister wasn’t sleeping or groggy.

Beth laughed on the other side of the phone, “I’m glad, you have to tell me all about it tomorrow.”

“You’re so busy at this hour?” Annie asked.

“Well I got a meeting with my own gang friend. I think I found a solution to our problem. I’ll let you know tomorrow.” Beth said before quickly before hanging up on Annie

Annie smiled at her phone then went off to bed.


	3. Save the Best for Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to prove herself to Ben, Annie decides she's going to attend a big school fundraiser to impress all the parents of Ben’s friends. To do this she needs an impressive date that will get everyone talking because being a well dressed woman with money to spend won’t do it for these snobs. After asking everyone she knows and being denied she's only got one option left to ask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the comments and kudos! I really appreciate it. This chapter took a little longer than others but I hope you enjoy it just as much!

Annie hasn’t seen or talked to Mick since that night. She’s been so busy she doesn’t even know if she would even realize if she had. Lately, her days have been taken up trying to get Ben to love her again and working at Fine and Frugal until she feels like her feet will fall off. Then if that wasn’t emotionally and physically draining enough she has to spend the rest of her night making ‘money’ with her sister and Ruby until she sees the sun come up. It’s been a week of this, then after one long shift at Fine and Frugal she came home to see a black flyer with fancy sprawl all over it. She tossed it onto the table and went into her room to get changed in something comfortable for the rest of her night.

Once she was changed she went back into her dining room to wait for Ben to get back home safe from his father’s house. While she was waiting she saw the flyer that she had originally thrown on the table, too bothered to read it. Curious what it was she sat down at the table and looked over the fancy text to discover it was for a fundraising gala to support Ben’s school. 

She felt upset that her son didn’t tell her about this event, it was just like lacrosse. Did Ben think that she didn’t support his education and after school activities just because of the school he went to. She may not have liked the people, or over the top attitude the people and the school held but she wanted her son to feel comfortable enough to tell her all about his day and all his new friends. So maybe if she went to this gala that would show Ben that she supports the school that he’s attending and maybe it would make him want to tell her more about it.

It was when she was lost in these thoughts that he walked into the apartment. Annie felt excited, this is something that might actually work and get him to be her friend again, “Hi.” She said as she sat up a little straighter anxious with excitement to tell Ben that she would be going to the fundraiser.

“Hey,” Ben responded as he closed the front door behind him.

“School still suck?” She asked, trying to steer the conversation towards the sheet of paper that was still sitting between her fingers.

“Always,” He said as he started to take off his backpack.

“Maybe I’ll, um, come see for myself,” She said a little anxious as she turned and faced Ben.

“Huh,” He asked as he walked into the dining room towards his mother, she handed him the flyer.

“What happens at these things, anyways?” Annie questioned as she stared at him as he read over the fundraising gala’s flyer.

“Stupid rich parents bid on stupid rich stuff for the school,” Ben replied. Done with the flyer he handed it back to Annie and started to walk towards the kitchen.

“Can’t wait!” Annie exclaimed as she adjusted the way she was sitting so she was facing Ben, who was searching through the fridge to find something.

“You're not rich,” Ben said as he continued rummaging through the fridge.

“But I’m stupid,” she joked pointing the edge of the flyer towards her son.

“So come,” Ben replied in an unenthused tone as he looked at her over his shoulder with a slightly annoyed expression on his face.

“Sweet!” She said excitedly, ignoring the look on Ben’s face as she jumped up from her chair and walked towards the fridge to pin up the flyer.

“You’ll hate it, though,” he said now deeper in the kitchen, still trying to find something.

“Well, I want to meet the other parents,” Annie replied, trying to appear nonchalant. On the inside she felt as if all her excitement was sucked out of her and replaced with a deep sadness. She wanted her son to be happy that she was finally taking an interest in his personal life rather than dismiss it in a way she now regrets ever doing. She feels like she’s losing her own son.

“You'll hate them even more,” Ben told her matter of factly as he grabbed a bag of chips out of the cabinet and started to eat them.

Annie sadly chuckled and asked, “Well how's the food” trying to find some quality that Ben approved of that Annie could use as an excuse to attend. That way when he found out she attended he wouldn’t be upset he would understand and hopefully in some way be happy that his mother was trying to take a more active part in his life.

“Super tiny cause none of the mom’s eat. You’ll house a pizza after.” Ben responded sharply. Annie knows that the attitude is targeted at the mom’s they use to make fun of together but part of her felt like it was targeted at her. 

“Really selling it hard.” Annie said sarcastically. She was starting to feel angry from Ben’s tone and the fact that Ben didn’t want her to go out to meet the parents of all of his new friends. All the sadness she’s been feeling was starting to boil over into a rage.

Ben shrugged at her and looked down at the counter thinking of what to say to calm his mom down, “It’s just a bunch of people we'd totally make fun of like, who do pilates and would’ve played lacrosse.”

“What’s so wrong with lacrosse,” Annie asked defensively with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Nothing if you’re lame,” Ben joked before turning to his mother and asking her, “are we out of salsa?”

They stared at each other for a few long seconds before Annie broke eye contact and searched through the cabinet for salsa for him. Whe she grabbed it and handed it over to him she sighed and said in a pointed tone, “maybe uh, maybe I’ll skip it then.”

Ben shrugged and replied to her, “up to you.” Then grabbed the salsa from her and walked off towards his bedroom.

Annie watched as Ben was walking to his bedroom and in that second she decided that she was going to that fundraiser. It just wasn’t clear if she was doing it out of anger or her pure intentions after that conversation.

The next day she got her hands on a corporate card that Annie was told to use for big purchases and it felt like her whole plan to win over Ben was meant to happen. With a bright smile on her face she went to do the best job she’d ever been given and bought an incredibly expensive ‘Cinderella’ dress for the fundraising gala. It was elaborate and felt like something that would get the attention of all the people that were attending, which would be great for when she started making big bids in the auction to impress everyone.

She felt amazing after buying the dress and daydreaming about all the things she was about to bid on. That was until she realized that she was going to need a date for this fundraiser if she wanted the rich parents at Ben’s school to respect her, this discouraged her. She didn't know many guys who would be up for being her ‘date’ to her son’s school fundraiser. Then she thought of the homeless guy she’d slept with, he was interested in her and it was possible that he would do this favour for her because of that. With this in mind she decided that she was going to call him and ask if she could visit him after she finished her business with Beth and Ruby.

Annie sighed as she walked towards the man’s car later that night, she had just worked a long night and she just wanted to go home. She couldn’t though she needed her plan to go off without a hitch and to do that she needed a date. With this in mind she knocked against the car’s back window which was covered in a film to keep the car warm.

From the car she heard someone say, “it's a public street bro.”

“It’s me,” Annie replied in an annoyed tone. Not because she was necessarily annoyed with the man but more that she was disappointed in herself for not having anyone in her life that she could take to this gala, she wished she could take Josh.

The voice pulled down the window insulator to reveal that it was the homeless man she had called earlier. Annie smiled tightly at him as he stared at her from inside the car, excited he asked, “Whats up, girl?”

They exchanged pleasantries before Annie got into the car. Once inside Annie immediately heard music playing, they both sat silently in the car as they listened to it thinking of what to say to each other. The silence got more unbearable the longer it went on. Annie was gearing herself up to talk to the man about the gala when he asked her, “can I get you a drink?”

“Uh, got a beer?” Annie asked.

“Yeah, not while the keys are in the ignition.” The man responded in an awkward tone, stumbling over his words. 

“Right,” Annie whispered in response as she looked off into the distance wondering if inviting this guy rather than just going by herself was a good idea. 

“Red Bull?” he asked, trying to appease Annie in any way he could. Annie turned to look back at him so she could respond to his question.

“I’m okay.” she said nodding with what she tried to make a genuine smile but probably came across as judgy more than anything else. 

“So listen there’s, uh, this thing at my kids school. And basically I don’t want to show up and look like some pathetic old divorced single parent with no life. So I-” The more she was saying these things the angrier she was getting that people perceived her this way, and that she perceived herself this way. It was for the best the man cut her off.

“You want me to be your date?” He asked excitedly as he pointed a finger towards himself.

“ I was thinking more like a wingman.” Annie hesitantly corrected him, stumbling over her words. The words made the car’s atmosphere incredibly awkward again.

“Ah. Already asked the guy you’re into?” The man asked in a defeated voice. The look on his face showed that he was obviously disappointed that she didn’t want him to be her date.

“No.” she replied in a soft voice with a heartbroken expression on her face.

“Cool,” the man said slightly giddy. It seemed he missed her expression and thought he was the guy that she was interested in. 

“He got engaged.” Annie added sadly. At this the man across from her expression fell.

They sat together in silence, both upset for different reasons. The man suddenly shot up and leaned over his front seat to take his keys out of ignition, before he sat back down with Annie and grabbed a beer. He tapped on the lid a couple of times before responding to her earlier question, “Yeah, you know, I would but,” he opened his beer before adding, “I’m, I’m busy.” 

“Excuse me? doing what?” Annie was shocked out of her sadness with the fact that he denied her, she thought that he was an easy yes because of his displayed interest in her. 

“I got the guys across the street’s Hulu. Gonna binge the new season of The Bachelor.” Annie stared at him, her shock turning into anger. She just wanted a simple favour from him, she would do it for him. Annie didn’t understand why he was acting this way towards her.

“Are you being serious?” She asked in an angry tone.

“Uh, yeah. Hannah B’s back.” The man responded in the same matter of fact voice that Ben had used with her before. Annie felt like she was beginning to see red. 

“He picks Hannah Ann. Okay? I am asking for a favor here.” Annie said furious, if she wasn’t sitting in a car in the street she might have yelled at him.

“Well, see, that’s the problem.” The man said back to her, relatively calm. The calmness confused Annie, she shook her head trying to process the words. Once she did they only confused her more.

“I don’t want to be your favour anymore.” The man explained to her confused expression.

“Oh.” Annie said as she sat back shocked by what she was hearing. She didn’t know what to say back to him so she sat in silence and looked away from his intense gaze as she thought about how to respond.

“I, I don’t think I’m ready for that,” Annie said softly, as she thought about her current relationship with her son and Josh.

He looked at her with a disappointed expression on his face, “Then I don’t think I can go with you.”

Annie was upset she understood how he felt after pinning for Josh. She didn’t want to string him along like Josh did to her, that would just make it hurt more further on. She gave him a long solemn stare before she said a quiet goodbye and got out of the car into the cold street.

As she walked over to her parked car she wondered who else she could ask to the fundraiser, she already asked everyone she could think of. Then she reached her car which made her think about last week, which brought into mind one other man who would possibly accept her proposal.

She got into her car and hovered her finger over the call button for a few seconds before just quickly clicking it. It rang a couple of times before she heard a voice.

“Yeah?” Mick asked as he answered the call

“Hi, it’s Annie,” she was going to ask her question but Mick had a habit of always cutting her off.

“What do you want?” Mick asked impatiently.

“I, I was wondering if you could do me a favour,” Mick let out a sigh, “I know you hate doing favours for us. All I need is for you to go to a fundraising gala at my kid’s school with me.” Annie said, hoping that he would say yes. He wasn’t the first person she would have chosen but she needed him now.

“You want me to be your date?” Mick asked, noticeably sounding confused.

“No more like a wingman.” Annie said trying to make it seem like a natural thing to ask someone, but failing.

Mick scoffed or maybe let out a puff of amusement, Annie couldn’t tell over the phone. “How much this worth to you?” Mick asked.

“I’ll buy you anything you want from the auction.” Annie responded quickly knowing that it would grab the man's attention.

“Anything good?” Mick asked 

“Yeah, I think you can buy a trip to Bermuda,” Annie replied.

“How’s the food?” Mick asked, clearly becoming interested at the prospect of getting free luxury items.

“Good,” Annie decided it might be for the best to leave out the details of serving sizes.

Mick hummed before saying, “Text me the details.” He then promptly ended the call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/blog/katie618318


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